When it comes to television, I am a faithful reality series fan.

From dating shows like “Love Island,” “Love is Blind” and “Married at First Sight” to docusoaps like “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” and makeovers like “Queer Eye” – no program is too fringe that I won’t give it a chance.

So when I recently found myself in between seasons of “Below Deck” and experiencing a dearth of “The Real Housewives” content, I decided to turn on “The Traitors” for the first time. It quickly became my new TV obsession.

For those unfamiliar, “The Traitors” is a reality TV game show featuring well-known personalities from other reality series, who spend a couple of weeks sequestered in a Scottish castle competing for money. The whole cast competes as a group in absurd and macabre challenges as they try to add cash to their collective pot of winnings. A select group of so-called traitors — secretly appointed by actor Alan Cummings, the show’s host doing the absolute most — work behind the scenes to sabotage the rest of the cast, who are known as faithfuls. Each night, the traitors eliminate one faithful by figuratively murdering them, ending their time on the show.

The traitors’ goal is to conceal their identities until the end of the game, because if they survive, they will hijack the winnings. Faithfuls also have chances to banish traitors by voting them out of the castle during a nightly event called the roundtable.

It’s a game of trust and betrayal, of gossip and groupthink. The whole plot is excessive, campy and over-the-top — and it works because the participants are, too.

The most recent season featured icons of fashion, glamor and drama, such as Lisa Rinna of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Monét X Change, and Colton Underwood of “The Bachelor.” There were also famous faces from other places in pop culture, such as Olympic figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir, and comedian Ron Funches.

Big personalities playing over-sensationalized versions of themselves in a lavish castle with the couture to match, “The Traitors” is like the ultimate escapist version of reality TV in that it is so far removed from reality it feels like watching a live-action fantasy.

In one episode, for example, the participants join Cummings in the castle’s dining hall for a gathering henceforth known as the Black Banquet. Cummings has tasked the traitors with committing a murder in plain sight — meaning they have to convince a faithful player to touch a jeweled brooch in front of everyone else without raising suspicions. That person is then cursed and slated for murder.

The setting, characters and costumes place viewers squarely in a whimsical world, though that all gets starkly juxtaposed against real human nature when Cummings offers the players an antidote that will save them should they be revealed as the traitors’ secret sacrifice. Paranoia overtakes several players who vie for protection. It turns out to be for naught — the wrong players drink the antidotes and the cursed faithful gets escorted out by two individuals in hooded cloaks.

Ridiculous and over-dramatized? Yes. Addicting television? Absolutely.

Part of “The Traitors” success comes from the character development, and watching each player navigate balancing their own integrity and intuition with the fear they could be next on the chopping block. Showing leadership is a good way to build alliances, but if misconstrued for over-confidence, the whole group could turn on you. One misstep and all fingers point your way.

In several episodes, viewers see participants acting decisively and self-assured in private conversations, only to show up to the roundtable and completely change their thinking. The show is something of a case study in group dynamics and the power of manipulation. It may also make you reflect on your own personal biases.

Like, what exactly makes a person trustworthy? And how would you prove your own innocence when public perception is stacked against you? Comedian Funches spent numerous episodes defending his honor as a faithful, as the other players nit-picked his actions and reserved demeanor. Few believed him until he was banished from the castle and forced to reveal he was, in fact, on the right side of the game.

“The Traitors” Season 4 finale aired on Feb. 26 on Peacock, which means by the time you read this, the fate of the faithfuls and the identities of the traitors will be revealed. But if you’re not invested yet, all the better, as I find this show is best binge-watched versus kept up with week-to-week. Now that I’ve developed a taste for mock murder, I can’t wait to watch all the previous seasons I missed.

On Nov. 10, as , of TikTok and “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” fame, embarks on her journey to find love. The show is currently seeking Coloradans to join Paul and her gaggle of suitors on , about 20 miles north of Steamboat Springs.

Filming is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10. It����ap unclear what exactly the cast will be doing there, but the show often features events, such as talent shows or pageants, that they film in front of a live audience. Those interested in participating must apply for tickets by emailing info@bachelornationaudience.com with specific information outlined at .

Paul’s casting as the show’s lead is a significant departure from the norm of the 23-year-old franchise, which usually recruits personalities from past seasons to lead the new ones. It����ap also notable because Paul, 31, is already a celebrity and mother of three whose past relationship tribulations have played out on both phone and TV screens. For example, “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” viewers know she was arrested during a domestic violence incident that played out in Season 1. Talk about potential for the most dramatic season ever.

The consensus in reality TV circles is that this crossover is an effort to bring eyeballs back to ABC’s once-a-hit show that has since been outdone by newer inventions like “Love Island.” It also makes sense because “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” is a Hulu production. Both Hulu and ABC are owned by Disney.

Season 22 of “The Bachelorette” premieres March 22, 2026. The last time the franchise was big news in Colorado was in 2022, when local nurse and former Denver Broncos cheerleader Gabby Windey was the star. Spoiler alert: It didn’t work out for her on the show, but she has since married comedian Robby Hoffman.

In January, Windey tied the knot with longtime girlfriend, comedian Robby Hoffman, in a 20-minute ceremony in Las Vegas. , the couple described it less as an elopement and more as making the most of a harrowing situation.

They live together in Los Angeles, and as smoke and ash drifted into their home during the recent spate of wildfires, Windey recalled having to evacuate during similar circumstances in Colorado. It was the middle of the night, so she and Hoffman packed the car with their cat and some keepsakes and started driving to a place they knew would have open hotels. The penthouse suite where they were set up in Las Vegas had that honeymoon suite vibe.

“We had just evacuated from the fires. Literally cue Rihanna, ‘We found love in a hopeless place,’” Gabby told Cosmo. “What better time to get married than right now? Because if the world is ending, we want to be with each other.”

The wedding was a secret for a while. This week, the couple made a formal announcement by with the wedding date Jan. 11.

Marriage has been part of Windey’s story since she first appeared on “The Bachelor” in 2022. At the time she was cast, Windey lived in Colorado, where she worked as a nurse and performed on the Denver Broncos cheerleading squad. She then starred as one of two leads on “The Bachelorette” and ended the show by getting engaged to a man named Erich Schwer. However, the two separated shortly after filming wrapped.

A year later, Windey joined the women of “The View” and came out on live television by sharing that she was dating Hoffman.

“And look: I’ve been proposing since the day I met her,” Hoffman told Cosmopolitan. She had already designed a crossword puzzle spelling “WILL YOU MARRY ME, GABBY?” and busted it out during their Las Vegas stay. They celebrated the engagement over crab legs at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel.

The rest was fairly simple: They found a chapel, rings and wedding outfits. The two walked down the aisle to Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” and were married by a female minister in red sneakers.

The total wedding cost: $799. “That included the limousine. That included the photos. That included the minister,” Hoffman said.

The couple returned to Los Angeles to find their home still standing, which may have been the best wedding present of all.

“People are like, ‘How does it feel after you’re married? Does it feel the same?’ And the answer is honestly no — it feels better,” Windey said. “I feel more committed. This is my wife.”

Rogers was one of four cowboy hat-wearing men courting potential mates on season two of FOX’s “Farmer Wants a Wife.” Like so many reality dating shows, the premise centers on single men in search of a woman to spend forever with. What����ap unique about this one is that the women competing for the ultimate prize – love – need to shovel manure, herd cattle and fix tractors to prove they are up for the task.

Think of it like “The Bachelor” with a country patois. Despite the promise of a lasting partnership, it was clear from the beginning that some contestants may be trying to bolster their sizzle reel. Several hailed from big cities in New York and California and had never stepped foot on a farm prior.

Rogers started the season by speed-dating eight women, five of whom he chose to bring back to his farm in Center, which is just west of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. There the group did daily farm work like sorting potatoes and repairing irrigation systems, cooked communal dinners, and pondered what married life would be like in the middle of nowhere Colorado.

Through a series of dates and women leaving of their own accord, Rogers whittled down his pool of options to two women: Grace Girard, a communications associate from Caledonia, Wis., and Emerson Sears, a college counselor from small town Iowa. Girard was one of the original constants, while Sears came in after a blind date during a mid-season plot twist.

Rogers had concerns about both women. Girard, for one, was very close with her family and enjoyed the amenities of the city. He was afraid to lure her away from those. Sears no doubt embraced the rural lifestyle, but Rogers was concerned they hadn’t had enough time to build a solid foundation for a lifelong relationship.

In the season finale, which aired May 9, Rogers chose to continue things with Girard, who happily accepted the opportunity.

“I really feel like we have established a really good emotional connection, so I would like to see where that emotional connection would take us,” Rogers said.

“I don’t want to lose you and I would love to see where this goes,” Girard replied.

Despite the name of the show, “Farmer Wants a Wife,” there was no formal marriage proposal and the couple did not leave the show engaged. Two other farmers chose a woman to continue dating, while one broke up with both his finalists.

So did our local farmer find a wife? You can find out on Thursday when FOX hosts a cast reunion. Tune in at 7 p.m. MT or the following day on Hulu to get the tea.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.

“If he’s going to continue to play at a high level, one of the things he needs to do, and he started to do it against CSU, is taking off and running,” Jesse Palmer, the former Florida QB and current ESPN analyst, told me over the phone a few days back.

“He’s not the most dynamic runner at the quarterback position in the country. But if you can get four or five yards, limit the distance on third down, protect yourself and get out of bounds, I think that’ll be a key thing for (the Oregon) game Saturday and that’s a big key for him this season.”

The Ducks’ defensive line outweighs CSU’s by an average of 22 pounds per dude. Shedeur does Tom Brady better than Tom Brady does Tom Brady these days. But to get out of Autzen Stadium in one piece, you ask Palmer, isn’t he going to need to flash at least a little Lamar Jackson, too?

“I’m not saying he needs to be Lamar Jackson and run all the time,” Palmer, who’ll work the CU-Oregon game on Saturday for ESPN along with Joe Tessitore and Katie George, said while on a break from “The Bachelor” duties. “His gut instinct is to scramble in the pocket to extend time for his throws. But when he can, if he can get four or five yards (on escapes), it’ll help this offense a lot.”

After three games, two against Power 5 defenses, you could describe Son of Prime in the same hushed, pious tones normally reserved for Nikola Jokic and Cale Makar. One of one. Freak. Unique. Always three chess moves ahead.

Shedeur’s counting statistics coming out of the non-conference dance card — 10 touchdown passes, one interception, an Xbox-esque 78.7% completion rate — are exquisite enough. But it’s the numbers underneath that’ll melt your cerebellum like caramel sauce.

On third down, the younger Sanders has completed 71.9% of his throws with a 177.95 passer rating. On third-and-10-or-more, he’s 12 of 14 (85.7%). On fourth down, 2 for 2. He’s 22 for 26 in the fourth quarter (84.6%) with three touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 253.22 rating. The tighter you squeeze him, the greater the payoff. The Rammies pinned him to the CU 2 with 2:06 left, . Seven plays and no third downs later

“The guy keeps getting hit and he stays in the pocket, he keeps his eyes downfield and he plays his best football in the most critical points in the game,” Palmer said, voice rising in admiration. “There are so many quarterbacks, they get hit, the eyes come down, they get flustered, they make bad decisions. Not him.”

That said, he is getting hit. A lot. Among FBS programs, only Old Dominion is allowing more sacks per game than the Buffs’ 5.33. Whenever the hurricanes come, Shedeur is almost always the eye of the storm, forever cool, buying time, dissecting his way out of disaster.

“There’s not a lot of first-round picks in front of him,” Palmer said of the CU offensive line. “And part of that, really, is maybe the most impressive thing about him — the fact that he’s unflappable.”

Mind you, some Rams players also didn’t appreciate the way the younger Sanders talked trash before the Showdown. Even if he backed it up to the last.

“I think there’s a target on every great player’s back, isn’t (there), last time I checked,” Shedeur’s dad, CU coach Deion Sanders, replied when I asked about the protection for his (sometimes) favorite son.

“But that should really challenge your offensive line to do their jobs, shouldn’t it? Because if you stop the quarterback, if you stop a Travis Hunter, if you stop a Xavier (Weaver), a Jimmy (Horn Jr.), if you stop these guys, you’re stopping the offense.”

Although you also can’t shake the image of 6-foot-1 Mo Kamara, CSU’s Little Engine That Could, crawling on all fours, then grabbing the younger Sanders for an ankle sack.

Starting Saturday, and for most of the next nine weeks, the first-round picks lined up in front of Sanders are going to be wearing the wrong color of jersey. And looking to roll him into a black-and-gold burrito.

“I’ve got to be honest, when you’re the QB, it’s not like you have to say things and all of a sudden the defense wants to hit you harder,” Palmer laughed. “At the end of the night, they’re still going to be hitting him, whether you’re out there flashing watches or talking about Rolls Royces or not. College kids don’t need a lot of bulletin-board material to want to play hard.”

Congratulations Bachelor Nation, we made it to the end of perhaps the most dragged out season of “The Bachelorette” to date. And I’ll be damned if we didn’t get a happy ending, too.

Denverite Gabby Windey announced her engagement to Erich Schwer on the season 19 finally finale, which aired Sept. 20. Viewers weren’t exactly on the edge of their seats since Erich became the sole contestant in the running two weeks ago, but many were grateful to be able to close this chapter in our primetime schedule.

Gabby and Erich got engaged on a beach in Mexico and when they returned to the stage on Tuesday for the live “After the Final Rose” segment, they seemed happy. Even glowing.

Did Gabby ever think it would end up like this?

“No, I hate men,” she joked with host Jesse Palmer.

What does the future hold for the couple?

“I don’t know,” she said with a laugh. “I want to build a life where we can have shared experiences.”

For the time being, that means Gabby, formerly a Denver Broncos cheerleader, competing on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” which premiered Monday. Erich is “very supportive,” she said.

In addition to congratulating the happy couple, Palmer made sure to address accusations that Erich had a girlfriend prior to going on the show and announced Zach, one of Rachel’s top dudes, as the next star of “The Bachelor.” But honestly, all that was snooze-worthy compared to the conclusion of co-”Bachelorette” Rachel Recchia’s journey to find love.

Like Gabby, Rachel only had one guy left going into the final rose ceremony. That guy was Tino Franco, who proposed, as is apropos given the premise of the show. Between the time filming wrapped and the premiere aired, however, Tino cheated on Rachel in what he deemed was a tiny, little mistake of a moment.

Oh, you know Twitter didn’t let him get away with trying to blame her for his actions.

Tino saying their relationship got better because "You started going to therapy". "You did everything I asked". "Don't get worked up over something so tiny". No accountability

— yoongi and bts luvr⁷ (@cheerioyoongi)

Tino leaving after dropping every emotional manipulative tactic in the book

— T (@teewatterss)

The producers didn’t let Tino off scot-free either. Rachel had the chance to confront Tino during “After the Final Rose,” and then her runner-up Aven Jones showed up and asked her out. It may have actually been the most dramatic moment in “Bachelor” history.

My soul escaped my body in this moment

— TheBachBabes (@TheBachBabes)

the producers bringing out Aven and telling Jesse to wrap it up while Tino just stands there

— thenewsoup1 (@thenewsoup1)

And so that does it – this season really did go out with a bang. But it����ap time to restock the wine fridge: “Bachelor in Paradise” premieres Sept. 27.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.

It has been nine grueling weeks since Denver’s Gabby Windey and Florida’s Rachel Recchia took the primetime stage as co-stars on “The Bachelorette,” but this week added a little spice to the mix. In two episodes that aired Monday and Tuesday night, the ladies and their six finalists flew to Riviera Maya, Mexico, for the highly anticipated Fantasy Suite dates.

For the uninitiated, the Fantasy Suites offer the couples an opportunity to spend a camera-free night together in a swanky hotel room where they can, presumably, have deep conversation.

“As much as I want to revert back to laughing and chasing each other around naked, I need to make sure we utilize this time,” Gabby said.

As fans will recall, this is the point in Clayton Echard’s season of “The Bachelor” where things went haywire. Because the leading lover has the option of three overnight dates, they often take them to explore their sexual connections. Who wouldn’t?

That, however, caused problems with finalist Susie Evans last season, who gave Clayton an ultimatum that led him to awkwardly tell Gabby and Rachel he slept with them both before basically breaking it off. It was henceforth known as the “rose ceremony from Hell,” to quote host Jesse Palmer.

Going into Fantasy Suites this time, Gabby said she felt hopeful about and ready for an engagement with one of her three remaining men: Erich, Johnny or Jason. But, as we covered a couple weeks ago during hometowns, one or more of those guys admitted they may not be able to follow through with the premise of the show.

So here are the Fantasy Suite stats: The Mile High City’s darling Gabby had three amazing dates, two sleepovers and only one guy left in the running by the end of the episode.

You read that right – just one dude remains! By contrast, Rachel still had three men waiting to see if they would be awarded a rose.

Gabby’s situation is as untraditional as it gets with this show, so let����ap explore how she got here.

Her first date was with Erich (Mr. Little Party in the Back), during which they jumped into a beautiful swimming hole called El Salto de los Enamorados, or Lovers Leap. They had a great dinner, Erich said “I love you” and, cha-ching, he earned a ticket to the Fantasy Suite.

Next up was Johnny, who described Gabby as the “dopest girl I’ve ever hung with” complete with both – gasp – brains and beauty. Their date consisted of taking a sailboat on the ocean and chatting on the beach. Unfortunately, Johnny couldn’t commit to an engagement, so Gabby left him sitting there on that beach to think about actions. Overall, it was an amicable split.

“There’s a part of me that hopes you and I would make it happen one way or another, but I think we’re just in two different places,” Gabby told him.

Men every season when they find out this show usually ends in an engagement:

— Bachelor Chick (@Bachelor1011)

Lastly was Jason, the super quiet guy from New Orleans who many in Bachelor Nation only recently learned the name of. Gabby took Jason to play tennis – or perhaps more accurately, she hired him as a tennis coach for the day since he apparently played in college and Gabby, respectfully, needed a few pointers.

Things were going great until Jason finally decided to be “fully honest and transparent.”

“I’m into you and when I’m with you I’m having some of the best days ever,” he said. “I know what the expectations are in all of this, being engaged and fully in love… I don’t think I’m there yet.”

Cue tears.

“She’s the dopest girl I think I’ve ever hung with” vs “uh I’m into you” choose your week-before-engagements fighter

— bachelol (@bachelol)

Gabby decided to give Jason the benefit of the doubt and invited him to the Fantasy Suite in hopes they could talk it out on their overnight date, but the conversations ended with the glaring realization that this relationship was over.

“I was like, ‘Maybe it����ap not meant to be,’ and he was like ‘Yeah, definitely,’” Gabby said in a confessional the next day. “When were you going to tell me that?!”

And so the only guy left standing was Erich. Gabby decided against an unnecessary rose ceremony and went straight to his hotel room to tell him the good news. The last image viewers saw of them was a heartfelt embrace after Gabby told Erich she loves him. Erich said it was “friggin awesome.”

Whether or not this ends in an engagement remains to be seen, however. “The Bachelorette” did not air Rachel’s rose ceremony so that fans, again in Palmer’s words, could breathe and prepare themselves for the most dramatic season finale in the show’s history. Like we haven’t heard that before.

Part one of “The Bachelorette” finale airs next Tuesday, Sept. 13, since the Denver Broncos will be playing the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. (Let’s Ride!) So I guess we’ll see you next Tuesday.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.

The 19th season of “The Bachelorette” is nearing a close, which means engagements and proposals are just around the corner. Things are, no doubt, getting serious for our leading ladies Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia – well, as serious as they can in a matter of six weeks – so it����ap time to bring other people into the prime time picture.

Monday night, Gabby and Rachel traveled to their remaining contenders’ hometowns to meet their families in what����ap usually one of the most eventful episodes of the series. Families offer an opportunity to pop the reality TV bubble and bring the contestants down to Earth, often with some tough love.

Gabby went home with three men instead of the traditional four, since sending home frontrunner Nate from Amsterdam because she wasn’t ready to meet his daughter and step into a motherly role. And she survived the hometown trips seemingly unscathed.

First, she joined Jason, the super quiet and unassuming investment banker many folks didn’t think would make it this far, in New Orleans, where the couple did all the must-do things in the French Quarter, from eating beignets to asking passersby to flash them for beads even though it was clearly past Mardi Gras season.

Next up was Johnny, the too-cool-for-school realtor who thrived during the Red Light District challenge in Amsterdam. He brought Gabby to Florida to meet his family and enjoy a romantic sunset boat ride. Finally, Erich the Real Estate Mullet took Gabby to New Jersey, where he introduced her to his family, including his father who was battling terminal cancer.

Our bachelorette’s experiences were uncharacteristically and overwhelmingly positive. But it����ap what wasn’t said that may come back to bite.

In conversation with his mom, Jason let slip that he doesn’t realistically think he’ll be able to propose in a mere two weeks when the finale is slated to happen. To which all of Bachelor Nation said, “You seen this show, bro?” Johnny, too, suggested maybe he wasn’t ready for such a “big commitment,” but his dad quickly put that to bed.

“You say you’re not ready. What, emotionally? You seem ready,” dad said.

Still, neither Jason nor Johnny told Gabby to her face they might be reconsidering the premise of the show, and they may not get to before the next cut. Traditionally, the show jumps straight into a rose ceremony following hometowns. Viewers, however, won’t see who gets a rose and who gets the axe until next week.

Comparatively, Erich told Gabby that he was falling for her over martinis post-meeting the family. To which Gabby responded that the feeling is mutual.

“After today, I can feel comfortable saying I’m falling in love with you,” she said. The episode seemed even more heartfelt in retrospect. According to E News, shortly after the filming. Monday’s night episode was dedicated to him.

While all of Gabby’s suitors’ family were unusually supportive, it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Rachel Monday night, who got absolutely grilled by Tino’s parents during her hometown trip to Santa Clarita, Calif. Tino’s mom and dad kept reassuring the couple they were living in a fantasy and his dad accused Rachel of being disingenuous because she was “saying all the right things,” but hadn’t had enough time to truly get to know his son.

“Oh you love Tino? What����ap the name of his childhood imaginary friend and also his blood type?”

— Christina Rodriguez (@SuperVOGirl)

Tino’s family woke up and chose violence

— Llama Drama (@sweatsandpizza)

Tino’s parents be like

— CAROLINE WITTENAUER (@carriewitt78)

The episode covered three hometown dates for each woman, which means Rachel still has one before the women whittle down their would-be future husbands. The next rose doubles as a ticket to the Fantasy Suite, too, so there’s plenty more action to come.

But first, next Monday all the former contestants regroup for the season’s “Men Tell All.” You’ll need extra patience and possibly an extra bottle of wine to get through this episode, as the dudes bare their claws and get caddy in what����ap largely regarded as try-outs for the next season of “Bachelor in Paradise.” See you then.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.

As fans will recall, a couple of weeks ago both Gabby and Rachel decided dating a single group of dudes was too complicated and set out on their own very “separate journeys” (albeit together). That meant if a guy accepted a rose from one woman, he was set on dating that one woman only.

But it was never going to be that simple, of course.

Last night’s episode could easily be described as “The Logan Show.” Logan, a videographer from San Diego and look alike, had been Team Rachel for a couple of weeks, but – you guessed it – he just couldn’t stop thinking about Gabby. Perhaps it’s unsurprising, given this is also the guy who kissed them both on a single date. So yeah, maybe he was keeping his options open a little bit. But alas, he could no longer keep up the charade.

Monday night’s episode started with Logan’s decision to tell Rachel how he felt, which led her to have yet another breakdown and to cancel a group date in Belgium where the whole crew was stationed. That rightfully annoyed the rest of Team Rachel, because who doesn’t want to spend the day eating waffles and drinking beer with the girl of their dreams and her five other boyfriends?!

So then Logan went and told Gabby how he felt, and she was quite receptive to this development. Gabby conferred with Rachel and ultimately decided to invite Logan to the group date after party, where the guys on Team Gabby were shocked at his arrival — and not just because he looked like he walked off the set of “Night at the Roxbury.”

Logan on : What is love?

The women: Baby don't hurt me.

— Tiney Ricciardi (@tineywristwatch)

Long story short, Logan and Gabby hit it off despite not really having spoken for two weeks. But whatever conversation and lip-locking they shared was enough to land him a rose and kick two other dudes off Team Gabby. That included Mario, who earned her first impression rose. And for the record, neither Rachel nor Bachelor Nation were super thrilled about it.

When you have 5 guys left and one of them is named Meatball

— Banana Fana Fo F’Adam (@mradamppowell)

Bachelor nation’s feelings towards Logan

— Corinne (@Nielsen_ecorinn)

“The Bachelorette” is closing in quickly on hometown dates, when the women will see where each of their suitors is from and meet their families. Will Logan make it all the way? TBD, but it sure feels like he somehow skipped the line. And given there are still contestants on the show whose names I don’t even know, it does seem like he’s hogging camera time and may not be here for the right reasons.

Tune in next week for another episode of what we hope isn’t “Logan Making the Women Cry, Again” at 7 p.m. MST on ABC.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.

Viewers of “The Bachelorette” knew they were getting two seasons for the price of one this summer with Denver’s Gabby Windey and Florida’s Rachel Recchia co-starring as the leads on a mission to find love. But until Monday night, they may not have realized just how messy it would be.

Well, actually, there is precedent.

In 2015, the show cast two women from a previous season of “The Bachelor” to welcome limos full of men in a night one premiere and then had the would-be suitors vote for who they wanted to date the most. The format was billed as an empowering moment for the women to be in charge together, but instead it forced them to compete for male affection and peppered the episode with some casual misogyny.

However naively, I hoped that this would be less spicy, but history repeated itself Monday night, as Gabby and Rachel attempted to navigate dating one group of guys simultaneously in hopes of finding two fiancees, simultaneously. It����ap almost as though messy outcomes are baked into the formula here.

The episode started textbook, as host Jesse Palmer informed contestants and viewers that both bachelorettes would each get a single one-on-one date and the rest of the guys would be invited to a massive group date. Gabby took Erich, a real estate analyst whose hair boasts a little party in the back, out with her famously hilarious Grandpa John to experience the classic pairing of a zen sound-bath ceremony and then some bowling.

Rachel and Zach, a California-based tech executive, got glammed out by “Queer Eye” host Karamo Brown and enjoyed a private screening of home movies at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre. Both men got time alone with the bachelorettes, plenty of tongue action and, most importantly, a rose. So far, so good.

During the group date afterparty, however, things took a turn. The more Gabby tried to chat up guys, the more they told her they wanted to pursue dating Rachel. And look, it����ap only natural that the contestants would want to feel out who they’re most attracted to, but having a choice shifts the decision making power. Suddenly, the women who were supposed to be in charge no longer had the final say.

Gabby didn’t give out a rose on the group date because everyone she spoke with felt the need to insult her. Among the most hurtful comments were being called “rough around the edges” and told that if it were just her as the bachelorette some guys would not stay in the competition.

So, in an effort to rebalance the scales of power, she and Rachel decided to embark on “two separate journeys” to find love. That meant handing out roses and asking specific people to commit exclusively to them going forward.

It was another well-meaning move that ended up humiliating the women. Not one, but three men said they could not accept Rachel’s rose because they were holding out for Gabby. I am not shocked to report that none of those contestants received a rose and they will not be moving on in the competition.

Rachel: "I didn't see what happened to Gabby but I would be shocked if someone said no to me"
The boys:

— Asia McMahon (@AsiaLanier)

In the end, Gabby selected nine men and Rachel selected six – she didn’t get to re-hand out those three roses that got turned down – to continue on their now very separate journeys to a potential engagement. Still, the whole thing was painful to watch. Rejection has long been a central part of this reality TV show, and, let’s be real, it’s entertaining when dished out by the stars of the show.

But when the tables turned in Monday night’s episode, it felt incredibly gross. Perhaps the silver lining is that most of the offenders were shown the door to the Bachelor mansion. Of course, previews suggest that the mess has hardly been cleaned up, so you know what to do.

Refill the wine fridge and meet us back on the couch next Monday night at 7 p.m. MST to see how this plays out.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.